Essex farmer terrorised by machete-wielding hare coursers

A farmer has told the BBC that hare coursers have chased him with machetes, locked him in barns and caused £30,000 in damage to his property since July. Matthew Register said he had reported 198 incidents to Essex Police and described his land in Linsell, near Braintree, as being unsafe to work on alone. Hare coursing is the illegal pursuit of hares by dogs and is usually fuelled by gambling. Ben-Julian Harrington, the outgoing chief constable of Essex Police, admitted about tackling offenders: "We've not been as good as we should have been." It followed Register telling him officers had previously refused to pursue criminals at his farm as they did not want to get muddy. "They do this in broad daylight, they are not scared of us," he said. Register said that on one occasion, brazen coursers pulled up in their car to thank him after they were finished. The farmer, who looks after 1,350 acres (546ha) of land, described how the offenders had armed themselves with catapults and machetes in some incidents. He has also been trapped in a barn, shoved off his bicycle and pinned against a tree. Register added: "They come here to cause damage to anyone that gets in their way. "It's not just